Scotland: Woman fined £250 for calling two gay men ‘poofs’

A woman who shouted homophobic abuse at two gay men, calling them “poofs”, has been fined £250 by a court in Inverness.

Naomi Sturrock, 35, admitted to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, shouting and swearing at the men and uttering threats of violence and homophobic remarks on 19 December last year, North Star News reports.

Amanda Mitchell, prosecuting, told Inverness Sheriff Court that Sturrock saw the men outside her flat and shouted “there’s the bitch” and called them “poofs” – due to their appearance.

John McColl, defending, said Sturrock’s position was that she used the term “bitch” as a reference to one of her three dogs which had ran out of the door in front of her.

Mr McColl said Sturrock’s position was that the men had claimed she had AIDS because they were aware she was a habitual drug user and she reacted to this.

The lawyer said Sturrock had since been undergoing drug rehabilitation.

Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist said it was of some concern that Sturrock was already on a deferred sentence for a similar offence.